Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Stuffed Dates with Balsamic Reduction

StuffedDates2

One of my favorite restaurants back home is called Firefly. They serve tapas and delicious sangria! I don’t go very often because I get myself into trouble. I order the sangria, I order their parmesan fries, the manchego mac ‘n’ cheese, the bacon wrapped dates are a must, the gazpacho and I could just go on. I really enjoy everything on their menu, it’s hard to choose a favorite. Well I take that back. Bacon makes EVERYTHING taste better, including dates that have been stuffed with a smoked almond and blue cheese, wrapped in bacon. You can’t  just eat one either, so you must order at least 2 plates. I decided to do my own take on the bacon wrapped dates. After seeing all this bacon lately, I’ve been inspired. I don’t know if I’ll bake with it but cooking more with it I don’t have a problem!

StuffedDates1 StuffedDates4

Stuffed Dates By Fallon

Makes 18

Ingredients

18 whole pitted medjool dates

18 whole smoked almonds

9 strips of low sodium bacon, cut in half

1/4 cup goat cheese (chevre)

18 toothpicks

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with foil. You can spray with cooking spray to make sure they don’t stick, but I think the bacon will take care of that!

StuffedDates3

Cut a slit into each date and remove the pit. Set an almond into the dates and stuff with 1/2 teaspoon of goat cheese. Place on a baking sheet. Cut 9 slices of bacon into half. Take a date and wrap the half slice of bacon around it. Take a toothpick and insert to insure the bacon won’t unwrap. Bake for 25 minutes.

On the stove top, in a medium sized pot, heat up the balsamic vinegar till it starts to boil. Stir every so often so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to medium-low heat and add in the sugar. Continue to cook and stir gently till it starts to reduce and becomes like a thick syrup. Keep on very low heat till ready to drizzle on top of dates.

StuffedDates5

StuffedDates6

After 25 minutes take the dates out of oven and they should already be crisp on the top. Flip them over and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and rest.

StuffedDates7

Place on a plate and drizzle balsamic reduction on top. Sprinkle with remaining goat cheese and serve!

StuffedDates8         StuffedDates9        

While I’m home this week I’ll be enjoying myself at Firefly. Bring on the stuffed dates!! I can’t remember the last time I dined there, so this will be a treat. Can’t wait!

Buon Appetito,

Fallon

2 comments:

The Food Hunter said...

I will have to check out Firefly next time I'm in Vegas. Until then I will be making these little treats at home.

Pam said...

I could eat the whole tray! They look fantastic.